Back in the old South, “Southern Populists had to negotiate the complex world of race, the legacy of Reconstruction, and the almost solid one-party Democratic rule of the region” (Beeby). Because of this, Republicans positioned themselves as the underdog candidates, fighting for the average American that wanted equality for the farmers and laborers in the Populist movement. Trump’s message against the political establishment rings of the same message: “Black, Hispanic, white everybody. The political class has given them happy talk but delivered nothing” (Shane). So, when the 2016 election came around, it became possible for a populist message to get through the political talk. Bernie Sanders arrived on the scene in the 2015-16 Primary, and lost, so people theorize that those voters went to Trump (Regan). Conversely, the original Populist Party was formed “…when it was clear to most laborers and farmers that the conservative Democrats would not bring about substantive change, these nonpartisan organizations made the ultimate political decision and formed an independent third party, the People’s Party” (Beeby). The crowning achievement of the Populist Party mirrors a similar direction of Trump, had he lost. Teddy Roosevelt in 1912 formed the Populist Party and became the first American Third Party to place second in the election result, which split the vote from the Republican and Democratic candidates, giving the presidency to Woodrow Wilson (Beeby). Afterwards, the Populists returned to the Republicans and Democrats, while some gave up on politics completely (Beeby). The impact of the Populist movement was proving that Americans were very capable of putting forward ideals against the establishment, but ended up teaching both the Republican and Democratic Party that populist messages could manipulate the people into voting for candidates. Trump is the
Back in the old South, “Southern Populists had to negotiate the complex world of race, the legacy of Reconstruction, and the almost solid one-party Democratic rule of the region” (Beeby). Because of this, Republicans positioned themselves as the underdog candidates, fighting for the average American that wanted equality for the farmers and laborers in the Populist movement. Trump’s message against the political establishment rings of the same message: “Black, Hispanic, white everybody. The political class has given them happy talk but delivered nothing” (Shane). So, when the 2016 election came around, it became possible for a populist message to get through the political talk. Bernie Sanders arrived on the scene in the 2015-16 Primary, and lost, so people theorize that those voters went to Trump (Regan). Conversely, the original Populist Party was formed “…when it was clear to most laborers and farmers that the conservative Democrats would not bring about substantive change, these nonpartisan organizations made the ultimate political decision and formed an independent third party, the People’s Party” (Beeby). The crowning achievement of the Populist Party mirrors a similar direction of Trump, had he lost. Teddy Roosevelt in 1912 formed the Populist Party and became the first American Third Party to place second in the election result, which split the vote from the Republican and Democratic candidates, giving the presidency to Woodrow Wilson (Beeby). Afterwards, the Populists returned to the Republicans and Democrats, while some gave up on politics completely (Beeby). The impact of the Populist movement was proving that Americans were very capable of putting forward ideals against the establishment, but ended up teaching both the Republican and Democratic Party that populist messages could manipulate the people into voting for candidates. Trump is the